Friday, 31 August 2012

More than half of Canadians now in their 50s plan to keep on working after retiring in their 60s, in many cases to supplement their income, according to a new survey.

The national online survey, conducted last month for CIBC by Leger Marketing, found that Quebec residents were least likely to say they'll work after retirement, at 47 per cent.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan residents were the most likely to say they planned to work after retirement, at 59 per cent.

Atlantic Canada (54 per cent), Ontario (55 per cent), Alberta (57 per cent) and British Columbia (49 per cent) were closer to the national average of 53 per cent.

Just flush another assumption down the drain.

This cuts to the heart of the problem of making policies based on projections of events that haven't happened yet. Anything can happen between now and then to nullify them and this is an example.

This is why so-called "experts" tend to be wrong most of the time. They are trying to predict the future based on available data. But if Environment Canada cannot accurately predict the weather forecast 48hrs. into the future using the most advanced supercomputers then why should we believe some putz in an office with some degrees hanging on his wall on what they say will happen ten years from now?

The mass of retiring baby-boomers was one selling point of the lie for mass immigration. Now it's so far proving to be an invalid one.

The gradual exiting of the workforce of the baby-boom generation can cause generational strife as younger workers find themselves unable to advance in their careers as the boomers continue to occupy positions that would have allowed the advancement of their younger co-workers if the boomer retired. That is if younger workers are lucky enough to land a decent job with growth prospects in the first place.

Continuing to dump masses of unwanted immigrants into this economic situation can only exacerbate it further by adding an immigrant contender in this younger-worker vs. older worker boxing match.

We can't do anything about the immigrants we foolishly allowed in already. But we can do something about the one who haven't arrived here yet.

So, I guess I'm supposed to side with the author on this and express righteous indignation while contextualizing everything Sir John A. Macdonald said since it was obviously wrong based on the fact that it offends the modern day sensibilities of your typical urban dwelling, white beta-male, moral-grandstanding type lecturing everybody from a soap box provided to him by some minor-market newspaper.

Thing is I just can't do it because I fail to see what Sir John A. said that was so incorrect.

Macdonald’s comments came as he justified an amendment taking the vote away from anyone “of Mongolian or Chinese race.” He warned that, if the Chinese (who had been in British Columbia as long as Europeans) were allowed to vote, “they might control the vote of that whole Province” and their “Chinese representatives” would foist “Asiatic principles,” “immoralities,” and “eccentricities” on the House “which are abhorrent to the Aryan race and Aryan principles.” He further claimed that “the Aryan races will not wholesomely amalgamate with the Africans or the Asiatics” and that “the cross of those races, like the cross of the dog and the fox, is not successful; it cannot be, and never will be.” For Macdonald, Canada was to be the country that restored a pure Aryan race to its past glory, and the Chinese threatened this purity.

Okay. I do admit he was wrong with some of what he said. For instance I wouldn't have described the Chinese as immoral.

He's also incorrect to say that "the Aryan races will not wholesomely amalgamate with the Africans or the Asiatics." That's completely false and the mixed couples I see in Toronto (mostly white male/Asian female because, I guess, Asian males are so beta that not even their womenfolk want them) attest to that. Had he said the "Asiatics" will not wholesomely amalgamate with the Africans then he'd be onto something. (Oh come on, you know it's true! You want to hear some real racism just get a Chinese national going on about Africans and you better bring the pop-corn 'cause you're in for some real entertainment. Besides, how many mixed black/Asian couples do you see in Toronto or Vancouver?)As for exerting their political muscle through voting blocs that "they might control the vote of that whole Province" that's apparent and in the making in Canadian politics today so he was right about that. And we should just change "Asiatic principles" to Beijing influences to modernize it.

Where we get offended is his liberal use of the word "Aryan" which has become a word synonymous with white-supremacism thanks to its abuse the Nazi regime and its adoption by the white-nationalist movement. Were Sir John to use "European" instead of "Aryan" would we still be so offended?

What I object to is the insinuation by the piece that Canada is obligated to open it's doors to all people from all over the world and be blind to any effects it has on the host society.

Let's stop kidding ourselves and throw all politically correct bullshit to the wind. Canada is a country founded by European/Christian culture shaped within the North American context and influenced by an Indigenous fact. You can call it a Euro-American identity if you will, as I have done on occasion or two.

Canada has no Asian heritage to speak of. Saying the Chinese built the rail-road does not give Canada an Asian heritage.

It's also untrue to say that. While it is true that Chinese labourers were employed to lay the tracks for the rail-road the Chinese were not the total of the labour force. They were a cheap labour component of a larger workforce. To say the Chinese built the rail-roads implies they were the only one who did so and this dishonours the memories of those who were not of Chinese decent who laboured on it as well.

We say this to give the Chinese some place in Canadian history when they don't really have one. It's the over-emphasis of an historical footnote to act as a kind of consolation prize given to them to make them feel good about themselves. This is like the giving of ribbons for placing seventh place in an event when we all know that what really matters is placing first, second, and third (English, French, Indigenous). Not everyone can place in the top three so we'll just give ribbons to everyone so that those who don't won't feel so bad and feel like they contributed simply by participating. You know what I mean?

The recent silliness over the ethnicity of a woman depicted on the new $100 raises a point of discussion. A focus group objected that the woman looked Asian and thought it should be changed. Now, the woman doesn't really look Asian but that aside what's to be taken away from this is that to the focus group Asians and the Asian identity are not representative of Canada. I happen to agree and I think this thought is something the permeates the collective Canadian psyche. While Canada does host a considerable population of Asian extraction the Asian identity is not representative of Canada since Canada was not founded by Asian peoples and their culture. Asian culture only made it's presence known after Canada had established itself as a European presence on the northern portion of North America. An Asian woman represents an Asian society, not one founded by a European one.

So let's not say that Sir John A. Macdonald wanted to create an "Aryan Canada" but wanted to make sure Canada remained a country of European influence. That being said then I ask what's wrong with that? And for the sake of controversy I will concede that Sir John A. Macdonald meant white to which I ask the a question in the same vein: what's wrong with keeping Canada white majority? I'm actually curious about the latter one. If we abandon all arguments based on moral grounds I wonder what rational arguments can be made justifying minority status for Canada's white population brought about by the immigration system. Shouldn't Canadians be protected from the colonizing effects of mass immigration? Is this not our right?

Sunday, 19 August 2012

Trade between Africa and China hit a record $166 billion last year, a threefold increase since 2006, while direct investment is $14.7 billion, says Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming.{...}

But the investment usually comes with strings attached, with infrastructure traded for access to Africa’s vast mineral wealth as well as its marketplaces.

It’s been an especially raw deal for the continent’s dwindling artisans{...}

Brothers Mactar and Moussa Gueye said their first encounter with China was at a trade fair in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, in 1998. A Chinese trader approached their stand and admired their shoes, returning several times to look though never buying, said Mactar Gueye.

Not long after, a group of Chinese buyers travelled to Ngaye Mekhe, often called Senegal’s “shoe capital.”

“They told me they were interested in buying our product. They lied. By the end of the year, the market was flooded with my design — only made in plastic by the Chinese,” said 46-year-old Mactar Gueye.

For more than a thousand years, the Italian town of Prato in the heart of Tuscany has been a textile center synonymous with top-quality craftsmanship.

Now, it has become home to the largest concentration of Chinese residents in Europe.They have created a parallel, off-the-books economy, raising fears of a growing Chinese foothold in Europe.{...}

The Chinese in Prato are wary. Authorities say 20,000 are legal, but as many as 30,000 are not. Altogether, that makes the Chinese one-quarter of the local population.

Recent police raids uncovered a string of sweatshops, where illegal workers sleep, eat and work. Paid miserable wages, they sit before sewing machines for up to 18 hours in a row, producing a total of 1 million garment items a day.{...}

At the Macrolotto industrial park, home of pronto moda — or fast fashion — warehouse after warehouse is filled with racks of low-end, trendy women's garments. There are trucks, vans and cars from all over Europe and the Middle East that have come for the "made in Italy" brand at "made in China" prices.{...}

Because the Chinese-owned fast-fashion business does not compete with high-end textile companies, the separate Chinese economy was more or less ignored for years.

But while the Chinese flourished, the number of Prato textile companies dropped from 7,000 to 4,000 in just one decade.

There is a central theme shared by all three stories and that is deception for financial gain; the kind of behaviour and psychology that sunk the world economy in 2008.

Also, in all three cases the native population realizes little benefit from Chinese "investment."

For the Senegalese they found themselves being ripped-off by Chinese "businessmen" who were only interested in stealing the design of their product to capitalize on it by manufacturing a far inferior and cheaper replica.

For the Italians in Tuscany they have found their internationally valued "made in Italy" brand being co-opted by Chinese nationals seeking to pass off their shoddy Chinese made goods as finely crafted Italian made wares. Yet this influx of Chinese "investment" into Prato corresponded with the decrease in the number of textile companies in the city but I doubt the cheaper goods made by the Chinese and a cheaply paid Chinese workforce had absolutely nothing to do with it.

For China's slum dwellers they face eviction and displacement to make way for another real estate project of dubious worth aside from padding China's GDP numbers.

The video link is more telling because it exposes the deception at a national level. The report insinuates that China's growth rates are intentionally being artificially inflated by bogus real estate schemes driven purely by speculation. It highlights the shortcomings of real estate booms and their inherent danger.

Construction projects do stimulate growth but only in the short-term. Once the project is done those who worked on it are out of a job and those who supplied the materials are out of income until another project comes along. This drop in economic activity can be offset if what was constructed manufactured a good and employed a local workforce. But that's not what's being built. It's condos and shopping malls. So to keep GDP numbers up they keep on building more condos and shopping malls since this generates economic activity but this can only go on for so long.

Canada should take note because that's primarily what Chinese investment in Canada is all about: condos and shopping malls of questionable necessity. Criticism of this behaviour is deflected by claims that it contributes to the Canadian economy and creates jobs but like I said before it's only for the short term and for it to have anything of real value the investment would provide long term economic benefits and condos and shopping malls don't exactly provide this.

Once again, ultra-nationalists have emerged from an impoverished economy and turned upon outsiders. This time the main targets come from China, the rising power to the south.{...}

"If we start mixing with Chinese, they will slowly swallow us up. Mongolian society is not very rich. Foreigners come with a lot of money and might start taking our women."

Big Brother acknowledges he discovered such ideas through the nationalist groups that emerged in Russia after the Soviet Union's fall; Mongolia had been a satellite state. But the anti-Chinese tinge is distinct and increasingly popular.

"While most people feel far-right discourse is too extreme, there seems to be a consensus that China is imperialistic, 'evil' and intent on taking Mongolia," said Franck Billé of Cambridge University, who is researching representations of Chinese people in Mongolia.

It is Killinger who has dubbed workaholics “the respectable addicts” and whose books suggest they are more the cause for alarm among their loved ones than the admiration (and rewards) our culture frequently bestows upon them.

Workaholism “ruins lives, destroys families and causes discomfort and unhappiness,” Killinger writes in her book Workaholics.{...}

“What never ceases to amaze me,” writes Killinger, “is the workaholic’s lack of insight into how his own behaviour is affecting others.”{...}

Experts talk of contributing factors such as domineering parents who inculcate in their young the notion of work as the highest virtue.

Workaholics are often restless, impulsive and sometimes “plain reckless,” says Killinger. They are impatient, want things done now, are quick to judge, and make snap decisions that frequently lead to serious errors in judgment.{...}

From the point of view of economists, workaholics over-supply labour “relative to what would maximize the true utility function.”

Which is to say they are not necessarily the most efficient or productive of workers as they put in, say, 75 hours weekly as a point of personal validation to accomplish what could have been achieved in 45.

If this doesn't help explain Asia's high suicide rates (South Korea, Japan, and China are in the top ten of nations ranked by suicide rate) it does help explain Japan's peculiar pop-culture scene while at the same time explaining why the Chinese are insufferably dull and bereft of any real personality.

Canada is no stranger to the deceptive ways of Chinese nationals. Some are learning passable French so that they can immigrate to Quebec since Quebec is allowed to handle it's own immigration affairs, a privilege denied the other provinces. However they have no intention of living in province over the long term and are only using Quebec as a back-door into Canada. They will eventually relocate elsewhere in the country, the most likely destinations being Toronto or Vancouver as if either of those cities don't have enough Asians already.

And whether they contribute anything of real value to Canada is another topic of discussion. What is accepted is their penchant for real-estate speculation and inflating the true value of housing prices into unaffordable levels for the majority of Canadians. Since mortgage payments account for a good chunk of one's debt burdens the Chinese can pat themselves on their backs and congratulate themseleves for helping push Canadians' personal debt levels into historic territory. Well done guys! Now there's something to be proud of.

The ultimate question remains: do Canadians enjoy any considerable benefit from mass immigration out of Asia, particularly from China. I think the answer is no. Those who reap any of the benefits from this are Asian immigrants themselves with Canadians paying the costs of it as is the usual case. There is nothing wrong with immigration from Asia in and of itself but the mass immigration out of Asia Canadians have been forced to endure has brought little benefit to them to make it worth their while and the costs too much to bear.

This is something that deserves consideration since Canada seems steadfast in surrendering it's territory and economy to Chinese interests.

Mind you, we really can't blame them for it. They are, after all, shameless opportunists and we allow and encourage their behaviour so truly the blame rests with us.

So with that said, and considering that Canada has been down this road before, what lesson can Canada learn from all of this? How about we need another head tax.

Monday, 6 August 2012

Recent events in Toronto have invited further demands from the left for more gun control and from the right demands for more cash to fund an already grossly over-funded metropolitan police force. Considering their ideological biases these demands were predictable yet fail to consider what lies at the root of the problem which is a mass immigration system gone awry.

These were God-sends for political opportunists. The left wants more gun control. The cops want more money and more cops despite public opposition to this and their inability to justify budget increases and pay raises for an already over-paid police force as crime rates decline across the country.

Typically overlooked by the media, but not unnoticed by Toronto's mayor, is that crime in Canada now has an immigrant angle to it. This wasn't the case before but now, when it happens, it's of little surprise.

And if it's not Somalis then it's Jamaicans. Indeed, when one speaks of gun violence in Canada the victims or the shooters or both, as is most cases, tend to be black. This is the fruit the mass importation of west-Indian immigrants has yielded. Imported to mostly serve as nannies during the 1970s, Caribbean culture is now firmly rooted in Toronto including all its dysfunctions; the prime being a culture of promiscuity creating the family dynamic of single mothers with children by multiple and absent fathers who grow up to be everyone else's problem.

Then there's Sri Lanka's Tamils. Putting aside their involvement in what I consider to be the largest and longest case of immigration fraud in this country's history the relative ease Sri Lanka's Tamils were given entry into Canada was too much to ignore for the island nation's more unsavoury citizens. Along with the scores of fraudsters who were just looking for a way to jump the immigration queue criminal elements from Sri Lanka followed on their compatriots heels and blended in with the hoards gaming our refugee system making it hard to weed them out. As a result Canada became a major centre for funding Sri Lanka's major criminal organization: the LTTE. To fund their secessionist cause the LTTE resorted to crime like human smuggling, drug trafficking, arms smuggling, and possibly insurance fraud.

The LTTE is considered a terrorist organization but when we think of terrorism we first think of Islamic radicals. Odd that the first person to be charged under Canada's terrorism financing laws was a Sri Lankan Tamil. But then again maybe it's not.

The fun doesn't stop there. If the LTTE weren't enough of a headache Toronto now has to deal with Sri Lanka Tamil street gangs sporting such names as Unknownz , KBT (killah brown thugz), BLS (Brave Lankan Soldiers), BMz (Brown Movementz), to the more violent AK Kannan and VVT along with respective offshoots the Silver Boys and Gilder Boys.

If the colour of violent crime tends to be of varying shades of brown then if we were to attach a colour to Canada's drug trade then that colour would be yellow.

Yes, Asians are major players in Canada's drug trade when they are not busily engaged in counterfeiting, piracy, human smuggling, poaching, fraud of some form or another, or just good old fashioned cheating. Whenever there's a drug bust anywhere in Canada the safe money will bet Asians will be among those arrested. If it's pot then it's Vietnamese. If it's harder stuff like amphetamines or heroine it's Chinese. It's gotten so bad now Canada is consider a top nation for international drug production. How big a player Canada is on the international drug scene is a topic of debate but if Canadians want to feel proud that their country ranks somewhere in the top fifteen they can thank members of the Asian community for that accomplishment. If you think I'm being far fetched just read the latest drug bust in Australia. Of the seven arrested four were Hong Kong nationals. The other three were "Australian-based members of an international drugs syndicate." I'm betting the later are Asian as well. It's possible they're not but I'm going with the safe bet here. Besides, even if they're not it still holds that if there's a drug bust you can be sure that an Asian name will appear among the arrested.

I don't wish to imply that all immigrants to Canada are scoundrels of varying degrees. That would be ridiculous. The vast majority are here to make an honest living. They can't be held responsible for the actions of a few members of their community. But accepting large numbers of immigrants who have little job prospects and little chance of finding suitable employment doesn't help matters. It makes it worse.

It does this by creating and sustaining, even growing, pockets of poverty in which criminal elements find fertile soil. It's not shocking to discover that where one finds poverty, one also finds crime and Toronto is no exception to this phenomenon. Add to this a culture of single mothers with children from different fathers, as is found in Caribbean culture mentioned above, and you have a potent mix.

We don't need more gun control. Those who are calling for it are not looking at the problem clearly enough.

We also don't need to waste more money by throwing it away at the police. Contrary to perceptions the police aren't very good at crime prevention because they cannot predict when and where a crime will occur and act to prevent it. Hiring more cops won't change this in the slightest. In fact it can be harmful since it will mean the consumption of more public money that could have been spent addressing the roots of criminal activity. If you find yourself the victim of a criminal act the police aren't of much use to you either. It doesn't matter if they caught the guy who shot you because you're either lying in a hospital bed or dead in the morgue. If your place was broken into and your belongings were stolen, forget it; it's gone! If your car was stolen, forget it; it's gone! The police won't get them back to you and I doubt they even care to. When it comes to crimes like those the police phone it in. It seems to me the real reason we employ police officers in the first place is to hand out traffic tickets and enforce social power imbalances. Beyond that they are not of much use. This is why it boggles the mind that a city like Toronto has a police budget near $1 billion a year and growing consuming more that a quarter of one's property taxes and that of the city budget. Frankly, I don't think they deserve it and the money would be better spent elsewhere but I digress.

More to the point we need less and more strict immigration because it's either directly or indirectly contributing to Canada's crime rate. Canada would still have a crime rate but it wouldn't be as high. Indeed, it would be even lower were it not for immigration's contribution to it.

Wednesday, 1 August 2012

I visited ImmigrationWatchCanada.org on facebook and their latest update informed me about this.

Citizenship and Immigration are seeking national consultations on immigration levels and mix.
The online consultation can be found here so please participate. You have until the end of August.

I'm cynical about this. Politicians hear what they want to hear and considering the invited "stakeholders" are employers, labour, academia, learning institutions, professional organizations, business organizations, regulatory bodies, municipalities, Aboriginal groups, settlement provider organizations and ethnocultural organizations they're going to get what they want. It'll be more of the same.

Still if enough of us participate perhaps we can have an impact so get the word out.